


the effort made

by 002peach



Category: Big Hero 6 (2014), Big Hero 6: The Series (Cartoon)
Genre: F/M, Post S2, character study of sorts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-25
Updated: 2019-12-25
Packaged: 2021-02-24 16:14:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,563
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21960787
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/002peach/pseuds/002peach
Summary: Karmi considers the way certain things change, and the way they stay the same.
Relationships: Hiro Hamada/Karmi
Comments: 3
Kudos: 42





	the effort made

If there was one thing Karmi truly knew about herself, it was that she tried very hard at everything she did, and was damn proud of it. Once upon a time, there were a lot of other things she knew very well about herself too. That felt very long ago now.

For the first time in her college career, since her decision to return to SFIT, she’s made a friend- she might be making  _ more _ , with how often Honey Lemon seems to bumping into her now outside her personal lab. It’s not as though she’s never made friendly connections before. It’s simply common sense that blasting through high school at fifteen and moving cities to attend university right after tends to break already tenuous ties. She thinks (admits) her personality might have something to do with it too, but that’s never bothered her before the way it does now.

She knows she’s haughty, and that she can be abrasive, and stand-offish, maybe even a little rude- but she  _ knows _ this. If nothing else, she’s never had to waste time the way her old classmates did stumbling around, wondering what’s next- she’s always known what she’s wanted, and how to get it. She knew who she  _ was _ . Now, she’s not entirely sure, but she at least knows she can figure it out if she tries hard enough, the way she always has. 

When she first returned to SFIT, everyone more or less danced around what had happened to her right before she left, and she thinks that before, she would have been extremely annoyed at this game of pretend. Now, she only feels  _ grateful _ . 

It’s the realization that her classmates aren’t doing this because they think she’s too young, too weak, or too delicate to confront the elephant in the room, but because they’re thinking of her feelings- they  _ care _ about her feelings- that prompts her to rethink how she might have been walking through life. She didn’t think of herself as a distrustful person- just a practical one. 

That shift in perspective meant there might be more to come, and she hated how much that thought ended up scaring her. With uneven footing, even in the hours she’s gone back to spending in her lab, it began to feel like somewhere new, somewhere  _ different _ entirely.

—

There are  _ some _ things that haven’t changed entirely. Hiro’s still poking at her, talking up his research to get her riled up, just like before. 

Except he also follows her around a lot more now. What was before just a constant running into each other, to her profound annoyance, was now an unspoken, intentional  _ seeking _ out of each other. She didn’t even entirely realize this at first until one day when their competitive banter came to its natural end, and she figured Hiro would throw his hands up the way he always did and run off somewhere else, leaving her to her devices. That didn’t happen- Hiro never actually left.

She wondered if maybe they were always headed to the same place, but he mentioned before he didn’t have classes until later in the afternoon. She didn’t really have anywhere to be either, so they simply kept walking. She walked up, down, sideways across campus- she turned a couple of corners down hallways she didn’t have any business in, all just to test it- 

“Where are you even going? Don’t tell me you’re lost.” He eventually, finally said, but he had stayed right beside her the entire time.

This was somewhat different from how Honey Lemon openly pursues Karmi’s friendship, asking for her number (she’s labeled “bio bestie” with a heart and syringe emoji in her phone), and inviting her out for shopping and the like, and she knows that before, she would never admit what she’s come to admit now- that was embarrassed by how she didn’t entirely know how to handle that.

She wasn’t used to people seeking her out like this, and honestly, she had never really minded before. The next proverbial rug to be pulled out from under her was the realization that now, she  _ did  _ mind- she likes that Honey Lemon is so forthright with her feelings and her friendly intentions. And she likes that Hiro, in his own, more subtle way, was forthright as well, and she found herself wanting him to stay beside her, even when she tries to shake him off (that thought weirds her out entirely, but again, it was one that not even in the deepest, murkiest depths of her mind she would allow herself to think, so she figured this  _ would _ just be another change she’d have to come to terms with).

She realizes that she wants to be that way too- open,  _ friendly _ . She doesn’t think she’s ever tried to be intentionally too mean (well, Hiro might object to that, but he’s an exception in a lot of things), but she knows there’s room for improvement, and she’s never been one to back down from a challenge.

—

She walks into Hiro’s personal lab with no real plans, where he’s tinkering with some new project he’s mentioned. He looks up and waves her over when he notices she’s there, and almost immediately launches into an in-depth explanation on where exactly his project is at at the moment- his work in the Robotics department has apparently gotten much,  _ much  _ more involved since she had left, and she frankly has no clue what he’s talking about after the first minute. 

She thinks she should ask him to explain what he means. “I have no idea what you’re blabbing on about right now.” She immensely bites her tongue- old habits die  _ hard _ , but instead of getting annoyed, Hiro just laughs, only a little smugly. She’s starting to get it more now that he’s explaining it in an easier way, but she’s embarrassed by how terrible she is, apparently, at not sounding like she’s trying to pick a fight with him constantly. 

She’s embarrassed by the fact that it seems like it’s very easy for him  _ to _ do that, but she remembers he’s also had a lot more experience. There’s certain things in his mannerisms sometimes, or the way he says certain things, that make her think that he’s been truthful in how hard he’s had to try at making friends. She figures it’s probably the case for any teen prodigy, really- it gives her a little hope, but at the same time, as she’s come to know, Hiro tends to be the exception, not the rule. 

He’s back to picking at his project, and even knowing she might not be the exception in the way he is, she’s starting to get very annoyed by how pointlessly hard she’s making things for herself, especially when she  _ has  _ really been plenty nice to him before. It’s likely the time and distance between then and now (She knows there’s a mix of trauma in there, but that’s a much longer battle she’s learned to deal with delicately). And everyday since then, since coming back to SFIT, it’s been one realization after another, of things she wants to be different, things she  _ didn’t  _ but simply are- but damn, if she didn’t hate beating around the bush. The one thing she still knew would never change was that she tried hard at everything she did (and proudly), and she simply never backed down from a problem or a challenge.

“Your research sounds really good.” She says, and from the look on Hiro’s face now turned towards her, it was kind of sudden, but she needs to press on, to return even a tiny bit of the kindness he’s shown her- be more forthright, be more  _ honest _ \- 

“You’re brilliant.” She blurts out, and it’s the one time she thinks, okay, she actually just might turn back on that challenge.  _ Too far, too far- _

She’s afraid for a split second he’ll think she’s completely weird- or even worse, completely insincere. But that reaction never comes. Instead, he stared at her for a second and she watches his face suddenly flush a bright pink. She’s suddenly very self-conscious for a very different reason- maybe his friends just don’t compliment him very often? (Though she slightly doubts it. They seem very nice and she can’t imagine any friend of Honey Lemon’s going for more than three seconds without some sort of positive affirmation). 

He turns back quickly to his project, letting out a small (nervous?) laugh. “Did you hit your head somewhere or something?” He says, but there’s not an ounce of annoyance or malice to it. His hand then twitches, promptly dropping his screwdriver swiftly on the floor with a loud  _ clunk _ . 

They both pause and she almost just picks it up herself before he suddenly speaks again. “Thanks.” He says, completely sincere. She blinks. “I should probably pick that up now.” Hiro says before ducking his head quickly underneath the table, and she holds back a probably too fond smile.

She has no classes for the rest of the afternoon, and she wonders if it’s weird to just sit beside him while he works, but an hour and a half passes by before she knows it, and when he finally finishes up for the day, he smiles brighter at her than ever before, and she thinks that this is the one shift that finally feels completely natural.

**Author's Note:**

> i did not expect to end up liking these two as much i do now but here we are i guess
> 
> thank you for reading and prayer circle for karmi to be back in the show


End file.
